Kurdish leader Barham Salih elected as Iraq President

Baghdad [Iraq], Oct 03 : Veteran Kurdish leader Barham Salih has been elected as the President of Iraq. According to Gulf News, Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) selected Salih to take over from Fuad Masum. Gulf News quoted Sa’adi Berah, a PUK spokesperson as saying, “Barham is the sole nominee for the post of president. PUK leaders have voted today on this decision after he (Barham) accepted all the conditions of the PUK.” The elected president Salih will have to assign the candidate of the largest bloc to the post of prime minister, to form a government. Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said that he won’t run for the post of prime minister for a second term. The Shiite-led blocs on Tuesday had agreed to nominate Adel Abdul Mahdi who has earlier served as the vice president, for the post of prime minister. In Iraq, the formation of a new government is also on hold since May, as even after hard-fought parliamentary poll, the results were later subject to a recount.